Philips Electronics NV and Koniklijke PTT Nederland NV are close to joining forces with pay television group NetHold to introduce digital television in the Benelux countries: no further details were given; NRC Handelsblad said Philips and PTT would each take around a 10% stake in NetHold Benelux; in exchange the TeleSelect BV joint venture between PTT and Philips to provide pay television in parts of the Netherlands, would be taken over by Nethold and liquidated, the paper said; NetHold is controlled by Swiss- based holding company Richemont and South African MCL Multichoice Ltd; the firms have not confirmed nor denied the reports.
